Enchanted
by GreekGoddess00
Summary: As much as she hated to admit it, she was growing to love Stefan...or at least she thought she was. She'd never been in love before, but whatever this feeling was surely seemed like everyone described it to be. Elena didn't describe it as 'falling' in love, though, because all things that fall eventually get broken... She'd learned that the hard way. /AU fairytale, Stelena


**Enchanted**

_The magic potion was finally completed. Martha, the nurse, put the vile of crystal blue liquid to the lips of the princess. Almost immediately, the eyes of the princess blinked open and she opened her mouth as if to scream...but nothing came out. Instead the princess simply smiled, began to laugh and exclaimed, "How glad I am to see you all...what strange dreams I've had of dragons, potions...!" The nurse wiped a tear from her eye and replied, "How glad I am to see you also, Princess."_

Princess Elena stared at her reflection in the mirror of her vanity. She was still getting used to the fact that she had been in a coma for three years, and had grown during it. Elena was so used to seeing her fourteen-year-old self. Now, this person staring back at her was a seventeen-year-old girl on the brink of adulthood.

Elena teased her long, pin-straight hair into a high ponytail. A smile worked its way to her lips. Her hair had been so short when she'd accidentally fallen from a tree she'd climbed to be isolated.

It was still early in the morning. Dawn had just broken and everyone in the palace was most likely asleep, save for her younger brother, Jeremy. He got up at the break of dawn every morning, as it was his inspiration for his sketches and drawings. Jeremy had tons of creativity, while Elena had none at all; She struggled to draw stick people properly.

Jeremy was the reason Elena had to be quiet. He had ears like a hawk, and Elena had planned on sneaking out, dressed as a peasant, to take a trip to the market to get some fresh air and be alone for once.

She had been out of her coma for exactly fourteen days, now, and everyone was smothering her. She didn't have enough time for herself, which was exactly why she was up in the tree all those years ago in the first place. Now that she'd been gone for so long and had just awoken now, it was three times worse than it originally was, and that's quite something, seeing as her parents had died the week she fell into a coma-literally.

Anyway, _every single day_, since she'd been awake, it was either, "A charity ball to celebrate the princess's remarkable recovery!" or, "Girl time with Aunt Jenna," or something like that. Not that those things weren't lovely, but she couldn't write in her diary in peace there. Elena just wasn't the type to always be around people, and if she was, it would only be maybe one or two people she could actually tolerate all the time.

So, Elena's solution was to leave for the market very early and stay there all day. However, she'd need to sneakily get out of the castle.

Elena crept outside to her balcony. She looked down at the drop. It was three stories down, and she couldn't afford to accidentally kill herself or fall into another coma by hitting a wrong place on her head to hard from unsuccessfully attempting to sneak out.

There was only one other option: leaving from the front doors, since the back doors led to her garden.

Elena made it downstairs to the entrance of the palace when a voice spoke from behind her, "Where are you going?"

The voice belonged to Jeremy. _Oh man_, Elena thought to herself.

Gingerly, the brunette girl turned to face her brother, bearing the same dark eyes and hair as she.

"Bonnie's house," Elena lied about her petite friend smoothly.

Jeremy raised an eyebrow. "Looking like that?" Elena's brother wasn't a snobby prince, and he didn't mean it in that way. Elena almost always made sure to look at least decent before leaving the palace, as a few peasants or photographers tend to loiter around their front yard, hoping to get a glimpse of the royal family in action.

Elena nodded. Her brother had always been great at seeing through her lies. However, he understood her situation, and judging by the glint in his eyes, he wasn't going to tell Aunt Jenna about this. He'd cover for her as long as possible.

Elena smiled a grateful thanks to her brother, left the palace, and made it to the market in no time. Thankfully, it was far too early for any normal person to be in the royal family's front yard when they could be sleeping or working.

Despite the early time, the market was very busy and softly humming with the sound of various voices everywhere, engaged in conversation.

She was then pulled from her reverie when she crashed into someone. Their metal tools fell to the ground with a _clang!_

_"_I'm _so _sorry!" exclaimed Elena as she instantly bent down to grab the things she made this person drop.

"It's okay," the man's velvety voice warmed Elena's eardrums. They were both on the ground collecting his tools.

As Elena reached for a small shovel, her hand touched the man's and she felt a jolt of electricity travel from the tips of her fingers, up her arm, and finally resting in her shoulder.

Instantly, Elena looked up to be met with the most beautiful pair of green eyes. The man had light brown hair and a strong jaw.

"Thanks," the man said as they simultaneously stood up. Elena handed him his tools. "I'm Stefan." He stuck his hand out to her.

Elena stuck hers out, too, expecting a shake, but he kissed it instead. The same electricity was there, along with a bit of shock from Elena. Not many men did this anymore.

"I'm Elena," she said, smiling. She wasn't sure if she should tell him about her royal authority or not. She decided against it.

"That's a beautiful name."

Elena had forgotten what it was like to have someone see you as just another person, not the princess of Mystic Falls. She eyed the garden tools.

"You garden?" Elena asked. Most men thought it was weak to do something as girly as to garden...Unless they were farmers, of course.

"Yeah. I grow my own strawberries and grapes. I also keep a few flowers around, but not much." Stefan's cheeks turned a light pink, signaling a bit of embarassment.

"You should show me," the words had escaped Elena's lips before she could stop them. She didn't know anything about this man, other than his name and the fact that he had a green thumb. He could be a murderer, for all she knew!

However, Elena felt as if she could trust him. Her intuition was judging this man worthy of her trust.

"Okay," he said and took her hand. "My house isn't far from here."

Stefan took her to see his garden. It was beautiful and healthy. He then offered Elena tea, and she couldn't resist; It was her favorite beverage.

The made such nice conversation, even though the were almost complete strangers. Elena stayed longer as they shared things about each other.

Elena learned that Stefan's last name was Salvatore and that he had an older brother. He explained that he was a runaway prince of Sparta, because he couldn't stand the social hierarchy there. Stefan had come to Mystic Falls to start over. He gardened to get his mind off of the, "Tragedy that is the realty of his life."

Elena told him about being the princess after quite some time getting to know him. He took it very casually, as he understood what it was like to want to hide his identity.

Stefan was sweet, passionate, a gentleman, and handsome. It was like Elena was still dreaming about crazy potions and dragons, and he was her knight in shining armor.

As much as she hated to admit it, she was growing to love Stefan...or at least she thought she was. She'd never been in love before, but whatever this feeling was surely seemed like everyone described it to be. Elena didn't describe it as 'falling' in love, though, because all things that fall eventually get broken... She'd learned that the hard way.

"Two weeks ago, I woke up from a coma," said Elena.

"Wow, really?" Stefan asked, wonder in his eyes. "How long were you out for?"

"Three years," said Elena as she sipped a bit of tea from her cup.

"There must have been quite a story behind it," Stefan chuckled. "Care to share?"

Elena laughed. Then, she told him. She told him everything, from her birth to how her aunt was automatically deemed temporary queen until Elena was married. She explained how Jeremy would never become king, since he was the younger sibling, and how she disagreed because her brother would make a much better ruler than any angle Elena could work being in charge from.

By the time the young princess had finished pouring her heart out to the man she'd just met that day, dusk was beginning to fall and Elena needed to get back to the palace before everyone began to get worried and Jeremy couldn't cover for her any longer.

"I must go now," Elena said sadly as she stared at the setting sun. She turned to Stefan.

"I really had fun today," Stefan said as he stood from his chair, helping Elena up, also. "I can walk you home if you want."

"I'd really love that, but I have to get back in the palace as quickly and quietly as possible."

"Well at least let me walk you to the door," he smiled.

When he smiled, Elena couldn't help but smile, too. As they walked to the door, Elena's head was spinning. Was she ever going to see him again? If so, when? She'd probably get grounded for a year when she got home!

Stefan stopped Elena before she could leave. "Look, Elena...I really like you. When can I see you again?"

"How about tomorrow? Meet at the market at dawn?" Elena asked, smiling shyly. She'd never arranged a date before.

"Just...one more thing before you leave... Do I have permission to kiss you?" Stefan asked.

"Of course," Elena smiled.

Then, Stefan leaned in, quickly pressing his lips against Elena's.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Elena said as she hugged Stefan one last time before walking out, flustered.

Stefan was wonderful. Elena loved his smile, and his personality, and the way he absentmindedly ran his hands through his hair. She wasn't sure if things were moving too fast or not. However, Elena and Stefan didn't have a problem with it... Everything just came naturally.

Stefan was just... There wasn't even a word to describe him. But, there _was _a word to describe how this day was... _**Enchanting**_**.**

It was** enchanting** to meet Stefan.

* * *

**Hi guys! I know I've disappeared from fanfiction for a while, but don't worry... I'm continuing my others stories, but I'm not posting for a few weeks. **

**Anyway, I have never posted on The Vampire Diaries fanfiction archive before... I hope they welcome me with open arms...**

**This story was an assignment for English. I asked my teacher if it was okay if I posted it on the Internet, and she said she didn't care. So, here it is. There was supposed to be way more to this, but I had to shorten it because it was an assignment, not a book. There was going to be a much thicker plot than this one and it had Damon in it.**

**The assignment was that we had to continue a story from a paragraph (those are the words in italics at the beginning) and make it whatever we want. I decided to make a fairytale.**

**So, um, if you want me to type up the rest of the story, I'd be more than elated to. Just tell me in a review what you think about the story and if you want more or not. I could probably update it in less than a week.**

**However, I don't think the rest would be _extremely _long. I'd say it would be about fifteen or more pages on Word. **

**But for now- I hope you enjoyed it! Please review and be good for your parents! -Destiny**


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